Marina Tarashevska helps a dog without a collar in Oak Cliff in August 2014. She volunteers her time helping stray dogs in Dallas' poorest neighborhoods.

Eric Aasen
/ KERA News

Five stories that have North Texas talking: Animal Control hopes to increase citations by 500 percent; Ted Cruz named a running mate; take a tour of NPR with Susan Stamberg; and more.

In recent months, Dallas has tried to aggressively address the longtime issues of stray dogs permeating the streets, particularly in South Dallas, and illegal dumping of dogs both dead and alive. The city has issued more citations this fiscal year than in years past, said Tristan Hallman on Texas Standard, that is if an owner for the stray dog can be found.

Hallman, a reporter for The Dallas Morning News, said:

“For the last couple of months the city has been trying to get their act together on stray dogs. This has been brought up a lot by activists, a lot of them will find dead dogs different places. They’ll say they look like they’ve been abused or neglected, and that’s possible, or it could just be that they were left in dumping grounds for people who don’t know how to dispose of them.”

By increasing citations and communicating the seriousness of the issue and subsequent enforcement, the city hopes to see improvement.

Hallman said:

“It’s seen as a quality of life issue. They’re borrowing a lot of this from traditional policing tactics, where they go out and they flood a hot spot and they try to find as many stray dogs as they can, pick them up, take them in, and go from there. Or try to find their owner or cite their owner if they can.”

According to The Dallas Morning News article last summer, this mass-collecting tactic was moot because the influx of dogs would overwhelm shelters and increase euthanizations, or people would later adopt these animals just for them to be turned loose again. Six of 7 stray dogs have an owner, so the problem, the article concluded, stems from irresponsible pet ownership. Read more and listen to the conversation. [Texas Standard, The Dallas Morning News]

Sen. Ted Cruz appointed former technology executive Carly Fiorina as his running mate Wednesday in Indianapolis. The move is one of the last Cruz can make to regain momentum. NPR reported: “After Trump's Northeastern sweep on Tuesday night, it's mathematically impossible for him to net enough delegates to win on the first ballot if Trump doesn't reach the requisite 1,237 delegates needed to clinch the nomination.” Fiorina, 61, endorsed Cruz in March after abandoning her own presidential bid after a disappointing show in New Hampshire, according to NPR. The former head of Hewlett-Packard has never held office, but she was economic adviser to John McCain during his 2008 presidential campaign. Here are a dozen more things to know about Fiorina. [NPR, PBS]

D-FW endured Tuesday night’s severe weather, but there is at least a slight chance for more storms through early next week. North Texas braced itself on Tuesday night, but most of the damage afflicted residents in Grayson County, north of the metroplex. Three tornadoes were confirmed — an EF1 in Whitesboro, EF0 near Bells and EF1 near Howe, KERA News reported. Five people were injured, and four of them were hurt when one tornado swept up vehicles, but no deaths have been reported. Here’s the detailed forecast through next Tuesday from the weather service. [KERA News]

The “Think” team got a tour of NPR headquarters by one of the most recognizable voices in public radio. Regarded as a "founding mother" of NPR, Susan Stamberg recently celebrated her 45th anniversary at the network. She showed off the newsroom and talked about how things have changed since she started at NPR in 1971. Take the tour. Plus, see who host Krys Boyd will speak with today as “Think” wraps up a week of live broadcasts in Washington D.C. And be sure to follow along on social media with #ThinkInDC for behind-the-scenes content. [KERA]

A baby tiger roaming the streets of Conroe amid last week’s floods showed that Texas doesn’t widely track or consistently dangerous, wild animals. Conroe residents are unsure who owns the tiger that was wearing a collar and leash as it walked around Thursday. It’s illegal to have a wild animal as a pet in the city, but if it belongs to someone in surrounding Montgomery County, then it is OK. That geographical distinction became the issue. The Texas Tribune reported: “For the most part, it’s up to individual counties and municipalities to decide whether to ban such animals. State law simply requires that owners alert their local animal control offices so that they can be prepared if the animals escape.” Read more. [The Texas Tribune]

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